


This Charming Man

by breakneckbetty



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:21:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27081862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakneckbetty/pseuds/breakneckbetty
Summary: The boys spend a day at the shops.One shot.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	This Charming Man

**Author's Note:**

> All proper due to the creator of these characters and story universe- Lilydusk.

This Charming Man

I would go out tonight, but I haven’t got a stitch to wear…

Downtown Narin City was just beginning to twinkle in the golden hour. The ebbing tide of harried, suit clad number crunchers rushed toward the tubes as the city’s vibe began to flow into something edgier. It was the perfect time for Tora to find the last legal parking spot near Narin’s “Rodeo Drive”. He’d barely pulled in before Quincey bounced from the front seat, pushing it forward to let first Gyu and then Jacob out from the cramped back. 

“Fucking million dollar clown car,” Tora sighed.

“So this, Jacob, is where I go for all my special events. Sergei is a master at reading just the right statement one should make when entering a room. You are going to LOVE him.”  
Jacob squinted a little at Quincey, trying to stay up as much with the conversation as the pace the long- legged men around him were keeping. A small worry began to creep into the back of his wallet as he read the names of the shops rolling by. 

“Quincey, I don’t know…” Jacob started.

“Hush now, ducky, its my treat. First one’s on the house,” Quincey winked before stopping to pull on the long brass handle of Uomo. A waft of vetiver and cedar curled out the door as the men stepped through to opulence. Jacob stifled a gasp.

“Me too, bruh,” Gyu chuckled as he pushed past.

Jacob watched as Tora strode lazily through the shop to a lux sofa placed strategically in front of a fan of mirrors.   
“… and I think this Orange jacket will look smashing against your suave complexion. Oh! I’ve lost you!” Quincey rounded on Jacob and pushed him forward into the shop, holding a bright orange puffy jacket against his back critically.

“Traffic cone,” Tora vetoed as Gyu grimaced from a rack of embroidered bomber jackets.

“Sergei,” Quincey huffed off, Jacob in tow.

“Big Bro Tora, you really going to let Quincey bully you into a birthday party?” Gyu sank heavily into a leather wingback chair facing the couch.

“Not for me.”

“What do you mean, Big Bro? Of course this is for you. Oh shit, was this supposed to be a surprise? No wait, we’ve been talking about this all afternoon. I’m confused.”

“Party isn’t just for me. I’m going because…” Tora paused, brooding.

Gyu studied the face of his mentor for a moment, threads of the past few weeks braiding together into a single fiber of thought. “Is it that cutie’s birthday, too?” he asked.  
Tora looked up, face a mask but his feline eye’s creased just enough for Gyu to read him. He was right!

Before Gyu could push for answers, Quincey placed a large white garment box on Tora’s lap. 

“Happy birthday, honey. Open it at home.”

Tora thought on this day as he stood before his mirror, white box thrown open behind him as he zipped himself into the fine black leather jacket. He thought about the jolt he felt when Gyu asked about “the cutie”, he thought about the days in between when he watched as everything he knew was going to happen- did. Poppy knew he was bad news now. She knew and he was trapped in a box with her every day since with no way to fix this shit. He was bad, she was good and he couldn’t change it no matter how fucking much he needed to.

So he looked at himself hard in the mirror. He was never going to be a white knight. He would never be able to change what he was and Poppy was too pure for all this dark. She was never going to be able to see through the bullshit blackness. So all he could be was what he was, because that’s what he had and all he was getting.

The moonlight slashed through the high window of his room and cut a streak across his reflection in the mirror- golden eyes glowing. The truth was out so there was no more reason to hide. 

He was the mother fucking Tiger of Ares Street and tonight that was exactly who he was going to be.


End file.
